Executive producers Jed Whedon and Jeff Bell were naturally tight-lipped when IGN asked them to elaborate on that scene, but did confirm that some time has passed and implied that what viewers saw was the real deal.

"We acknowledge there's a time jump," Bell said of season five.

"Bait-and-switches aren't fun," Whedon added, before joking: "He's either in outer space, or he has just such a really nice new television, and he has to get back to work to pay for that 4K image outside that window."